Small Business Talk
The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster
Let's Celebrate 200 Episodes - How to Future Proof Your Business
Show Notes
Let’s celebrate! Wooho! We are on 200 episodes already. My golly gosh, I cannot believe it is 200 episodes. So for the audience that has been with Small Business Talk from the beginning, February 2019. Thank you so very much. So I thought today we would do something a little bit different. And it was inspired by Amy Bett. When I was interviewing her for episode 197, she said, “you’ve almost made 200”.
It’s 200 episodes. Pretty amazing. Thank you so much to my team. Thank you to Ray Milidoni, a journey that inspired me to begin all this. And thank you, you, the listeners, because without you, there is no podcast. There’s no reason to do it. So to all the small business community, SBT, we love you from the bottom of our hearts and we hope that you will enjoy this episode and to continue listening with us.
So for my 200 episode. What am I going to do? I didn’t have an idea. But as I thought about it, I thought, wouldn’t it be great to bring on some special guests? So I’ve asked them one question: how to futureproof your business? So, I hope you’re going to enjoy all these little snippets of special guests answering that question.
Know The Value You Bring To Your Business
We have Ian Hawkins who was one of our wonderful guests and also a podcaster with 400 episodes. So how do you think we should be looking at future proofing our business? For Ian, it’s knowing your value that you bring to your business.
So if it’s your show, or even if you’re just one of the team, it’s knowing what it is that you bring that is unique. That is your go to gift that you know is going to add the most value, not just to the business itself but into the people that you work with and the people you connect with.
It’s not easy getting into podcasting. People get into podcasting for different reasons. For me, I wasn’t talking all the time, so podcasting was a way to make me talk all the time.
Any tip for anybody who’s thinking about starting a podcast?
Get a team. Your team will help you how to get it started, how to have people who can do different tasks. Your team will make everything easier. There is so much more that goes into a podcast episode than people will realize if they haven’t tried it themselves. So yeah, definitely having that team that allows the motivation, that allows things to happen and you’re not tearing your hair out is one of the best podcasting tip you should not ignore.
Get to Know Your Numbers
Our next special guest is Amy Bett – the reason of this episode. We were recording Episode 197 and Amy said, what was I going to do to celebrate 200? And I didn’t know. So, this is how this collaboration got together. So, Amy, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you very much.
So, how do you think we should be looking at future proofing our business?
From a profit first lens perspective, Amy’s tip is to actually to get to know your numbers.
It is important to understand that you know how to read your financial reports and then allocate your cash flow into different buckets so that you have financial visibility and you can protect yourself from spending your cash flow in the wrong way.
Go into The Future
Our next special guests is Kyle Spyrides from Soul Gazing Photography. He was my guests for Episode 120 – How to Shoot Professional Looking Photos From Your Smartphone With Kyle Spyrides. When asks about how would he futureproof his business? Kyle thinks the best way to futureproof your business is to go into the future yourself.
So how do you put yourself into the future? Well, there will be times when you’re going to get winded. You will going to have hard months. You will face a lot of issues – costs, the debt and the cashflow. You will be questioning yourself if why you are keeping this dream alive. That will be the time when you have to really dig dipper. Why am I keeping it alive? What for? What am I doing all this for? Because every business owner can relate to this. It’s going to take a lot more effort than you will ever realize. But the rewards are going to be a lot greater than you could have even imagined.
So the best way to futureproof your business is to be prepared. If you want to have a lasting business, and successful business do not freak yourself out, but be prepared. You need to have some sort of preparation. You really need to find out the purpose and what’s the greater purpose behind it.
And a good tip that I’ve found is to get out of your head and get into the client’s head, get into the people that you’re serving. What are they thinking? You really have to put yourself in the customer’s head. How can you help them out and how are you going to keep that dream alive? And what I found more recently is that you keep the dream alive because you realize how you actually serve and provide solutions for many people. The community. And then that ripples out onto this planet, you know, and to humanity.
Nurture Relationships
Another special guest we have here is Loz McKenzie – the Super Connector. For Loz, relationships are pivotal to any any business. So, having key relationships that you nurture is the best way to futureproof your business. So, create a great relationship and an open relationship with your team. You’ll still be able to have great conversations with your clients where we maybe they give great conversations sometimes, and also then the people that you strategically align with in terms of the business as well.
It’s really important to be conscious about how you manage those relationships and stay in contact with people because you just never know who people speak about you and your business that can actually lead to something in the future. At the end of the day, having a good relationship is what matters because sometimes we forget that. We know people for a long time and we forget that we need to continue to nurture that relationship.
It’s all About Consistency
Another guest for today is Ray Milidoni – where my podcast all started. I was heading off the holidays, going to New Zealand for six weeks when my friend introduced Ray Milidoni. I though it will never happen but anyway, one thing led to another and I agreed to sign on. So, anyway, here is what Ray says about future proofing your business – it’s about consistency.
You’ve got to show up and play the game. Consistency doesn’t mean that you have to do it every day or you’ve got to have like a magic morning routine and have that discipline. Consistency is just doing some thing on an ongoing basis – it could be that you do it once a month, it doesn’t matter because if you consistently do that for two, three, four or five years, you’ll see the results of whatever you’re trying to achieve. You don’t quit but you continue what you’ve started.
Advocate For Your Business
One of the wonderful guests is Jemimah Ashleigh. For Jemimah, it’s all about people advocating for themselves. However, you need to get very clear about what problem you want to solve, who you solve that problem for, and then putting that on repeat literally every day in your social media, in your personal brand, when you are contacting media. These are things that you need to do on repeat future proofing.
Your business will only be done if you’re advocating for yourself for a place at the table. You may be good at what you do but if nobody knows who you are, it’s very hard for people to find you. We definitely do not want to be the best kept secret in our business or our industry.
Check out Jemimah Ashleigh’s hot tips, check out Episode 199 for all the juicy details.
Go Out and Tell People About Your Business
So, now, we will be talking with Wendy Corner, another wonderful guests which I had the chance to talk to on my 104 Episode. For Wendy, entrepreneurs can be the world’s best kept secret and that should change. We got into entrepreneurship for a reason. We’ve got a burning passion about either a product that we use. We manufacture. We’ve got a service and if we don’t get out and network, people will never talk about you and your business.
So, tell people about it. People want to buy from you. Yes. Your product, your services. Brilliant. But the bottom end of it, they want to know who you are so be your authentic self and tell people about how wonderful it is. You see, selling can be hard for people but if your serving, then it will be easier. So, get out there and let people know that you can solve the problem self and fix their issues.
Embracing Technology
Our lovely guest, Liz Del Borrello highlights the role of technology when it comes to future proofing your business. When you start a business, you might get overwhelmed with all the work without knowing there are systems and processes and apps that are available at your disposal.
When you embraced technology, you can make yourself streamlined and efficient as possible. Nowadays, different technology comes in and it can be a real time saver.
Protect Your Business from Cybercrime
Caitriona Forde warns that the biggest risk in cybersecurity is people and urges businesses to train their staff to be vigilant.
Special Guests
Ian Hawkins talks about the importance of having a team. Guest Amy Bett, the reason for this episode highlights the importance of knowing your numbers and how reading your financial reports can help you a lot.
Special guests is Kyle Spyrides from Soul Gazing Photography emphasise the importance of going into the future. That the best way to future proof is to be prepared. To find out the purpose and what’s the greater purpose behind it.
Loz McKenzie – the Super Connector believes in the importance of nurturing relationships. At the end of the day, having a good relationship is what matters most.
Guest Ray Milidoni – where my podcast all started advises business owner of being consistent. You have to show up everyday and do it on an ongoing basis. Guest Jemimah Ashleigh talks about advocating for yourself and the importance to out there so people can find you.
Wendy Corner says to get out there and let people know that you can solve the problem self and fix their issues.
Guest Liz Del Borrello highlights the role of technology as a time-saver and crucial aspect of future-proofing a business. Lastly, Pauline Bright warns that static businesses will become obsolete, advising entrepreneurs to adapt, change, and innovate to stay relevant.
This celebratory episode is not only a milestone for Small Business Talk but also a source of insights for future-proofing businesses and a heartfelt expression of gratitude to the listeners and supporters who have contributed to the podcast’s remarkable journey.
How to Future Proof Your Busines
Remember to be great, you must start. Pick one tip from today’s episode. Take action and implement it. Let’s meet again next week at the same time and place.
Listen to the full episode of Small Business Talk episode 200.
You can also find the video versions of the Small Business Talk Episodes on YouTube.
